Residents of a Fort Saskatchewan condominium building learned at a meeting on Sunday that the issues with the building date back to the building’s construction.
A resident told CTV News Edmonton that officials confirmed that the building, which dates back to 2003, was constructed incorrectly, and the construction doesn’t match the building’s blueprints.
Terry Hall, another resident, was one of dozens who was told he had to leave one of the Riverview Estates complex buildings on Aug. 2.
"Eight o’clock in the morning basically they (came to) tell me I have to gather all my stuff and pack what I need to move out. I had a half hour to do it," Hall recalled.
All 44 units in the building were evacuated.
At the time, officials said some floor joists had been compromised and were at risk of failing.
Hall has four months left on his lease, and hoped to hear Sunday evening when he'll be able to return home.
"Whether that’s going to be a month, three months, six months—it's kind of tough. I’ve got a kid on the way and it’s hard to figure out what you’re going to do for a baby that’s going to be here in a month," he said.
"The work has been extensive and certainly unexpected, it wasn’t what was expected when the engineers were called in they were called in to give a quote for potentially doing some investigation and they saw this, which led to the sort of domino effect that led to the evacuation," said Hugh Willis from Willis Law.
Willis added that the length of the evacuation is yet to be determined.
"Our focus is on getting people back in their homes, and working with the engineers and the city to do that, and we’ll conduct the analysis of liablity down the road.”
One suite owner at the meeting is currently renting his suite out, and attended along with his tenant.
"I just want my tenant to know does she have home, does she need to look for another place," said Frank Garritsen.
Neither the City of Fort Saskatchewan nor KDM Management has returned CTV News Edmonton's request for comment.
A neighbouring condominium is unaffected. The city says it was built two years earlier with different construction.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Timm Bruch